Jaki Jean, Heroics, & Sainthood

The other day my sister said You are my hero.

Months ago my friend Marguerite you are a saint.

I am, of course, neither.   Hero(ine) nor saint.

My friend Shirley says it is a blessing, what you do for your mother Jean.

I agree that it is a blessing & a privilege to have this time with Jean.  But it is a blessing grounded in my sister’s generosity & support & her love for our mother, not in any propensity on my part toward heroics or sainthood.

Last Saturday, my sister & her husband David came over.  David to help my brother Jason hang a door & my sister to hang.  She asked me what I had done that morning.

I washed the dishes.  I replied.

From the look on her face, I do believe that my hero status fell several notches.

I didn’t explain that after the sun woke me, I took care of Jean’s morning toilet.  And I made breakfast:  Fresh orange juice, an omelet with potatoes, scallions & tomatoes, accompanied with a side of sliced avocado.  I made sure Jean took her meds & finished all of her protein drink.  And I fed Eli & let him out for his morning toilet.  I started a load of laundry, folded a completed load resting in the dryer, took a shower & saw to Jean’s post-meal toilet.  And I cut two roses to put in a vase in Jean’s room.

And then I washed the dishes.

Washing the dishes seemed a heroic accomplishment in the midst of Jean’s breakfast, Eli’s breakfast, an omelet for myself (with fresh jalapenos) &  accompanying side but no freshly squeezed orange juice, Jean’s toiletries,  Eli’s morning ritual, the laundry & my shower.  And remembering my own meds.

But then my propensity for heroics & sainthood has been greatly exaggerated.  

But my appreciation of the wonder & joy to be found in accomplishing the minutiae has never been exaggerated. 

Even washing dishes.